Chapter 5
Neely
If my hands weren’t full rolling a luggage cart and carrying my son, I’d be face-palming myself. I knew going into this that Tobais was tenacious, but less than twenty-four hours after meeting him, he’s already driving me crazy.
You could torture me by tweezing my nether regions, but I will never admit I hoped I’d see him today, and holy cow does the man look good. What is it about work boots and faded jeans? And not jeans bought that way, but ones that have been worn so much they mold to a man’s thighs. I’m not even going to touch on the tight gray T-shirt he’s got on beneath that muted flannel.
I will also not be admitting I took a few extra minutes to… give myself some extra care in the shower this morning—or who the star of that shower scene was.
“What are you doing here?” I ask as I tap the fob to unlock my vehicle.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he asks at the same time, giving me the once over before reaching out and stealing my keys. Which, of course, I try to snatch back, but other than shaking his head, he ignores me by pulling luggage off the rack and stuffing it into the hatch of the Wrangler.
“Tobias, as pleasant as it is to deal with you on an empty stomach, I have shi… stuff to do today,” I toss over my shoulder as I get TJ situated in the back.
“Yeah? Me too. I’ll drive. Where are we headed first?”
“Tobi—”
“Don’t argue. You wanted me to meet TJ, now I want to hang out with you. Where to?” Once again, he pulls the passenger door open and waits for me to get with the program.
“Fine. I need to go to Missoula. TJ needs some things.”
“You needed to take all your luggage with you for a trip to Missoula?”
“Well, as you pointed out, the resort is booked for the weekend. Missoula is the only place that has anything available, thank you very much. I also need to pick up some diapers and new bottles. I meant to do it yesterday, but you distracted me, and the situation, if not handled soon, will cause global nuclear fallout. That boy has a wicked ass… He must take after you.”
“Language,” Tobias sing-songs, causing me to roll my eyes. “Anything else?” he asks.
“Yeah, I need to find a clinic for TJ. I think he might be sick, and he’s having problems with his formula. My doctor back home said there are some prescription ones that are better for preemies. It’s just a matter of finding one that sits well with his little tummy.”
“Alright, we’ll do that first. I have a friend who’s actually a pediatrician. He can do a DNA test at the same time. It just so happens he’s in Missoula for the next couple of days. Let me call him, and we’ll get on our way.”
“Okay, thanks. And thanks for driving, although I’m not sure how you’re getting home later because I’ll be staying in Missoula at least for the weekend, and you’re not stealing my car.”
“It’s an SUV, not a car, and we’ll worry about that later.”
For the next two hours of the drive, we argue back and forth about everything. I swear, if I say ‘black,’ he says ‘white,’ but the trip goes quickly, and honestly, I’m happy for the adult conversation even though I’m worried about TJ.
Gazing out the window during a lull in our ‘get to know you better’ sparing match, I fall in love with the mountains and terrain. I bet these mountain views would be gorgeous on my bike. Some wind therapy with everything that’s been happening sounds really good right about now, but that’s on hold for a while, too.
My stomach clenches. God forbid something happens to me. Little TJ would be on his own and at the mercy of strangers. Sure, he has my club, but with all the crap flying around us, I haven’t had time to take care of a will or a trust for him, although it is one of the reasons I came looking for Tobias. Looks like I need to call my attorney while I’m here in Montana, too.
“Hey, we’re here.”
I jump when Tobias interrupts my thoughts.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, just a lot on my mind, I guess.”
I sway, the room tipping sideways, and suddenly, Tobias is there. I cling to the arm he wraps around me.
“Oh, hey, it’s not as bad as all that. Admitting TJ to the NICU is largely precautionary,” Dr. Sulivan, or Brady, as Tobias introduced him, advises. “Jaundice is pretty common, especially in newborns and preemies. We’ll draw some blood. I’ll write the order for the paternity test so Toby can have his drawn at the same time. It usually takes a couple of hours for the bilirubin results to come back. It’s TJ’s stomach upset and weight loss that has me most concerned.”
“O-Okay.”
“We have an excellent breast milk donor program here. With your approval, I’d like to get him set up with that while we figure out which formula will agree with him best.” Dr. Sulivan types his orders into his computer as he explains where we go from here.
I can’t help but feel like a complete and utter failure as a mother. Shoving up my glasses, I pinch the bridge of my nose to keep myself from bawling.
“When will we have the results of the other test? And how long will TJ be in the NICU?” Tobias asks.
“It will depend on how busy the lab is, but it usually takes a couple of weeks, although I have seen results come back as early as forty-eight hours. As for the length of stay, that all depends on this little guy.”